Should I use TS's or TP's for station transports?

[Slider33]

I'm shooting for a very low maintenance station-trading empire here. So what ships will make the best transports for my stations?

Some people recommended I get Split Iguana's and use them as my station-traders, I notice that they are the fastest TP's around, but they only have a carrying capacity of up to like 450 is that right? (Was looking on the argonopedia).

I'm guessing shooting for speed is the best, they'll have the best chance to escape enemy attacks (and possibly beat AI traders to spots), but would the other TP's do just as well? I know the other TP's seem to have a lot more carrying capacity. However, during trips my transports don't seem to really be completely full capacity on their trade runs anyway.

Point is, I'm wondering which transports would be the best to use. Which ones do you recommend? SHould I go with the Iguana's or some other TP's, or if not TP's then which are the best TS's to use?

[Samustus]

For me it's very dependant on what I want to transport.

For small quick deliveries.. its the Split Scorpion.. mainly as my Crystals collectors. Fast and cheap and easy to replace.

For main transporting I use the Boron Dolphin. 2000 capacity as standard before you even add more cargo. But its slow and an easy target, so I only use them in safe sectors.

The Paranid Demeter is a great TS too.. faster than the Dolphin and 1665 cargo with full extras. I use these for shortish runs with a medium payload. Very cheap.

Boron Manta is ok.. used them in the past. 1000 cargo and 216 speed. Also has one less shield than the Demeter and Dolphin. But when buying Transporters, never spend the cash on shields unless they are fast enough.

It really depends.

[freespirited]

I agree with speed being the important factor in my transports so mainly i use split vessels.

M4 for crystals
TS for other buying so they can carrying the XL cargo like ore and silicon for example.

The only exception to this is the boron dolphin for universal traders as with a jump drive speed is less a factor, and cargo space is a the greatest factor.

As for shields i go for the max everytime, and i lose very little ships at this time.

Good profits dude.....

[JungleJim]

This can have a simple or complex answer depending upon how fine you want to split hairs.

First of all let me state unequivically that

Spoiler

Show

after the Khaak Attack

speed IS life for your freighters.

Next, if you need to transport XL sized cargo, you MUST use a TS.

Finally, I've evaulated all ships for their cargo carrying ability. My standard measure is the distance that a ship can move enough ecells to support stations. The Numbers provided indicate the number of stations that this freighter can support:

Code: Select all

Distance (sct)  0     1     2     3     4     5     6
              ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---
Dolphin      12.3   6.0   3.0   2.0   1.5   1.2   1.0
Vulture      10.6   5.2   2.6   1.7   1.3   1.0
Demeter       9.8   4.8   2.4   1.6   1.2
Caiman        9.6   4.6   2.3   1.5   1.2
Mercury       9.1   4.4   2.2   1.5   1.1
Manta         7.2   3.5   1.7   1.2
Pirate Ship   5.7   2.8   1.4
Hermes        5.7   2.7   1.4
Toucan        5.3   2.6   1.3
Express       5.3   2.6   1.3
Iguana        4.3   2.1   1.0
Goner         2.8   1.4
Orinoco       2.0
Mamba         1.9
Barracuda     1.2
Harrier       1.2
Scorpion      1.2
Falcon        1.1
Bayamon       1.1
Nova          1.0

I made a lot of assumptions to build this table that I don't feel like documenting. So use these numbers with a grain of salt.

Based upon these numbers let me further point out Transports of note:
Dolphin - best freight hauler by volume/time
Demeter/Caiman - Most survivable TS
Manta - best TP hauler by volume/time
Iguana - Most survivable TP
Goner - best non-transport hauler
Harrier/Scorpion - the little haulers that could

I like to use SDS equipped Harrier/Scorpions to move small amounts of ecells from over-producing closed SPPs to nearby open SPPs.

[Greyhawk1]

Just use a bit of the 'think' in the game's tagline. M4's are expensive, less shielded and not as fast as a TP for instance. Dont use M4's for xtal buying - they are not cost effective.

If you're using BPH, dont use a TP to serve a mine. Once they get higher levels and start selling they wont be able to carry any of that XL cargo to sell it.

Use a Harrier as a trainee BPH ship. Its got a reasonable hold for a small fighter, its fast and will make lots of runs for small amounts of resources - best way to build up the level of your BPH guy. Ideal for supplying low energy usage fabs like Teladianium Foundries. Move him to a new ship once he's 6th or higher since you'll want him in a jump capable ship soon after.

An ideal non-BPH setup for an SPP in my opinion is a Dolphin selling and an Iguana xtal buying.

[Nanook]

M4's are expensive, less shielded and not as fast as a TP for instance. Dont use M4's for xtal buying - they are not cost effective.

A Split Scorpion has a top speed of 329m/s, the Iguana only 308m/s. An Iguana, with maxed speed and a single 1MW shield will cost you ~290K, while the Scorpion, with a 1 MW shield, maxed cargo and speed, will only cost 250K! Are you sure you don't belong to MoM?

An ideal non-BPH setup for an SPP in my opinion is a Dolphin selling and an Iguana xtal buying.

My personal preference is a pair of maxed Split Caimans for selling e-cells and a Scorpion for buying crystals. I actually start with two Scorpions buying crystals to train them up to level 6 BPH so I can transfer the pilots to the Caimans as sellers (BPH pilots won't sell until they reach that level). I then recycle one of the Scorpions for my next SPP project. At BPH level 6 and above, two Caimans will sell for better profits than a single Dolphin, since they never overlap on destinations and they have a much better chance of beating the NPC freighters to the sale..

As you can see, Slider33, there are many different ways to accomplish the same goals. Hence, the 'Think' in the X2 mantra.

[JungleJim]

Nanook,

...
At BPH level 6 and above, two Caimans will sell for better profits than a single Dolphin, since they never overlap on destinations and they have a much better chance of beating the NPC freighters to the sale..
...

When I looked into this I found that BPH sellers WOULD choose the same destination.

Potentially this is not true since I tried it on an earlier version of the script. So I would not make that statement until it has been retested tested with the current release.

[Deepstar]

I use only TS, because these are Transport.. i don't want use a Taxi for Cargotransports.

I don't use any TP.. when only for a TP Mission.

[MarvinTheMartian]

I mainly operate closed loops now and have standardised on demeters for supply, I can get them all with SDS at the same time too which cuts down on time for comissioning.
The demeter is fast and the cheapest TS (equal with Mercury) I max speed and add 42 cargo upgrades (with 1MW this is exactly enough for a full load of silicon i think).

If you don't have full loops and will be running BPH then that may change things for you but I find for my needs the demeter is 1 size fits all.

Cheers

[fchopin]

Most of my traders are TSs. Caiman’s and Demeter’s.

All have BPH installed; I train them all till level 8 and then use them for my EQ Docks and Trading Stations.

All fully shielded and upgraded, I never have a trader without full shields if I can afford.

I also use Iguana’s and Mantas for special jobs.

[Dunners]

I used to use a mixture of TP's and TS's. Now I am using purley TS's and grdually replacing the TP's when they get destroyed.

I had one loop with TP;s and one with TS's, the TS loop performed better and flashed yellow less frequently.


Dunners

[Nanook]

Nanook,

...
At BPH level 6 and above, two Caimans will sell for better profits than a single Dolphin, since they never overlap on destinations and they have a much better chance of beating the NPC freighters to the sale..
...

When I looked into this I found that BPH sellers WOULD choose the same destination.

Potentially this is not true since I tried it on an earlier version of the script. So I would not make that statement until it has been retested tested with the current release.

While they may choose the same destination initially, every time they enter a gate, or the destination itself, they recheck prices. If the price has dropped, they find another buyer. This confused me at first, too. But I've observed them and they do indeed pick different destinations eventually.

[coldwynn]

Very low maintenance for "station-trading" would be all MK3s. If that doesn't appeal, you need to sell desirable goods, have a durable fleet, and limited Khaak exposure.

Build high demand secondary resources in the local energy supply sector. Akeela's Beacon, The Wall, Tranquility something, etc... are locally energy rich and being close by you get "first-choice" much of the time. They have sector patrols. When chaining, e.g. flower->nostrop oil, build the support factory in the same sector near the final product factory and use SDS. You can buy S-class freighters, sell the shields (no real difference at 1 MW), and use them between your factories in the energy sector. The AI ships will come to you so you don't need to provide sellers. This in turn means your freighters are diluted as targets because there will be more targets for the Khaak to choose from.

Also, build as close as you can to the local SPPs. You don't really need speed if you have proximity.

If you want a spread out empire, my preference, concentrate on producing crystals in as few sectors as possible and use SDS/maxed Iguanas to distribute crystals to the sector where you have your SPP/secondary resource production.

Ideally, you may want to max out your between factory freighters because the more they carry , the fewer times they are exposed to attack even in a protected sector over a short distance. A maxed capacity Boron makes two trips while a standard Boron must make three. If you space your factories close, 4km is min I think, 75MW pretty much guarantees the Boron will dock.

Also use a naming convention to cut down on detective work. I use type, source, and destination, the cargo being implicit, e.g.

TS-BLX SPP01-Alpha-AkBe SunOR04-HaFa

This is a Boron L-class freighter with maxed cargo (X) delivering E-cells from the first of the SPP 1 pair (alpha, beta) in Akeela's Beacon to a Sun Oil Refinery 4 in Hatikvah's Faith. For a crystal runner to Dukes Domain,

TP-SL CryFab06-AkBe SPP01-DukDom

Footnote: If Khaak show up, get out of the sector...fast. Don't hide in a station, just get out of the sector.

[Greyhawk1]

@Nanook - Split Scorps will last .0001 of a second against a KM3. An Iggy will speed past with slight shield damage. An Iguana also has much higher capacity.

I prefer not to spend every three minutes replacing transports.